JITOTM39: Cell Phone Consciousness
You can walk and chew gum at the same time. You can also sing and play guitar at the same time, or at least some people can. But can you write and watch the hockey game at the same time? "Multi-taskers" would say yes... Jay says, maybe not. But then, Jay's not a big believer in multi-tasking, period.
Multi-tasking is a challenging subject to talk about. The topic is rife with speculation, much of which is based on data collected from one of the most common attempts at multi-tasking: driving while talking on the cell phone. What's the difference between talking to a friend on the phone, and a talking to a passenger next to you?
We don't know, but we're asking good questions in this week's episode of JITOTM, Cell Phone Consciousness. Enjoy.
posted by David Newland at 8:52 PM
3 Comments:
I listen to your podcast while driving...... great stuff. I drive an 18 wheeler coast to coast and spend more time driving than sleeping or anything else. I average over 3000 miles a wek. As you know truckers often talk on the CB radio and sometimes talk on a cell phone while driving. I've missed plenty of exits while on the phone but very seldom while talking on the radio to other nearby drivers. I'm convinced the problem is not trying to do 2 things at once but trying to "be" 2 places at once.
We use different parts of our brain to determine "where?" than we use to determine "what?" There can be many "whats" anywhere but it's damn near impossible to be 2 places at once. For example in vision, we use a totally different part of our brain to establish where something is as opposed to what it is. Most of our vision is black and white and is concerned with "where". A different region of the brain sees color and establishes "what".
see: http://www.nyas.org/ebriefreps/ebrief/000500/presentations/livingstone/player.html
The "what" part of the brain multitask much better than the "where" part. I believe that that's why talking on the cell phone while driving is much more dangerous than talking to someone in the car, or even nearby on the CB radio.
Thank for the great shows,
Les Moore
9:03 AM
If multitasking really isn't possible, why is everybody insisting we do it? It's even in my job description, and I can guarantee that I'm not able to answer emails, the phone, and work with difficult software all at the same time...even though, technically, I'm supposed to be.
10:40 PM
I'm a little late to this episode, but the beauty of podcasts is that you can catch up!
At the end of the episode, you discussed multitasking in the context of activities that have become automatic, and this is a topic that I've been thinking about for a while.
It seems to me that during some automatic activities, the brain enters an almost dreamlike state. My best example of this is taking a shower. Some of my best and most creative thinking happens in the shower, while my unconscious mind is occupied with the task of washing my body, my conscious mind is free to wander to some amazing places. The trick, as with dreams, is to remember what was happening in the shower (and what about "lucid showering"!). Another example might be taking a walk.
Love the podcast.
7:41 PM
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